Tongue Cancer: Symptoms, Pictures, Prognosis | Everything You Need to Know About Tongue Cancer

Tongue cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells of the tongue, and can cause lesions or tumors on your tongue. It’s a type of head and neck cancer.

Tongue cancer can occur on the front of the tongue, which is called “oral tongue cancer.” Or it may occur at the base of the tongue, near where it attaches to the bottom of your mouth. This is called “oropharyngeal cancer.”

Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of tongue cancer. This type of cancer occurs:

• on the surface of the skin

• in the lining of the mouth, nose, larynx, thyroid, and throat

• in the lining of the respiratory and digestive tracts

All of these parts of the body are covered in squamous cells.